Mosasaurus (Dinosaurs by LEGO)

“How do you do, fellow dinosaur lovers? Dr. Bella Bricking and Beth Buildit here once again, wishing you all both a happy National Dinosaur Day and a happy Pride Month! Are you ready for yet another dive deep into the exciting world of prehistoric LEGO sets?”

*sigh* “Why are we wearing these getups, Doc? I’m cooking in here!”

“Why, we are dressed for the occasion, my dear Beth. Today we will be taking a trip far back in time. All the way to the the year 2001 to be precise. For it was during that year that LEGO released its Dinosaurs theme. This consisted of four small sets packaged in boxes or polybags and four larger sets packaged in large black canisters. And for this review, we shall be examining one such canister: 6721 Mosasaurus.”

“Riiiiight, and since it’s a sea reptile, we’re wearing diving suits, gotcha, Doc. And how about that, we’re finally doing a set that’s not Jurassic World-themed for a change. Alrighty then, guess we’d better get building.”

“There is actually not that much to build this time, Beth. The Mosasaurus consists of just 18 pieces, although a bit of force is required to snap the four sections of the main body together.”

“Yeah? Well, with these helmets on, it’s still no quick and easy task, Doc! Same goes for these danged iron boots!”

“Hmmm. I must confess that my own equipment is impeding my mobility, Beth. Perhaps we should shed a few items.”

“Ah, that’s way better!”

“Right then, here we have the completed Mosasaurus. It measures nearly 28 cm long and 12.5 cm wide at the tips of its front flippers. Its main colours are light grey and sand blue with dark grey on its back and head and red and dark blue markings, which makes it fairly colourful compared to other mosasaur toys.”

“It’s also super poseable compared to the rest, Doc. The mouth opens really wide, the tongue moves, the head and shoulders can raise up or down, the flippers rotate, the tail moves up and down, and it rotates in three places to boot! And check out how the tongue piece is actually the upper jaw of one of those old LEGO crocodile figures!”

“Very astute of you to notice that, my dear Beth. And while the head is admittedly oversized, the long tail and relatively small flippers will enable most people to immediately recognize this toy as a member of the mosasaur family. And for those who enjoy adding on additional LEGO pieces, there are four connecting studs on the toy’s back, three in a row on top of its head, one on either side of its head, and one inside the mouth at the very front of the lower jaw.”

“And since there’s holes where the eyes are, Doc, you can do a little something with LEGO gem pieces if you’ve got them. Check this out!”

“Oh, I say, that is indeed a rather clever and intimidating touch, Beth.”

“So I guess now it’s time we wrapped this up, Doc?”

“Goodness no, Beth! Just take a look at the extra pieces that came with this set. These will enable us to build three more prehistoric animals.”

“I knew it wouldn’t be this easy.”

“First, by removing the flippers and then attaching a set of arms, a set of legs, and a sail, we get that famous Permian synapsid known as Dimetrodon.”

“Seriously? You call that a Dimetrodon?”

“I must concur that it is not at all a reasonable restoration, Beth. The head and the limbs are quite unlike those of Dimetrodon, and the tail is too long to boot. Only the sail attached to the back offers any clue as to its taxonomy. Of the three alternate builds, this is probably the weakest one.”

“And what’s with those spikes on the arms, Doc?”

“Oh yes, the arms were reused from LEGO’s classic dragon figure, Beth. Which, incidentally, utilized the exact same headpiece as the crocodile you mentioned earlier. Shall we move on now?”

“Yes, let’s! Can’t possibly get any lamer.”

“So, by removing the sail, attaching the tridactyl feet to the hind limbs, and swapping out the long tail section for the shorter one, we get the Late Triassic rauisuchid Postosuchus.”

“Okay, this one’s a bit better, Doc. The tail’s too short, but the Mosasaurus head totally works better as a Postosuchus than a Dimetrodon, even if it’s still a bit big.”

“It is also worth noting, Beth, that this Postosuchus toy was inadvertently ahead of its time. For you see, back in 2001, it was widely held that the animal was quadrupedal, but nowadays we think that it was in fact bipedal!”

“Huh, that’s cool. Only what a bummer that this toy can’t stand up properly on its two feet. You’ve got to either attach it to a LEGO base, use the tip of the lower jaw for a third leg, or have it rearing back till it’s practically upright.”

“Agreed, that is indeed a pity, Beth, but I also agree that this is still a much better build than the previous one. Now, next we need to remove the large head pieces, reattach the arms, replace the large tail piece,attach the small piece to the front socket to act as a neck, and then attach the small head piece to it. This gives us an Iguanodon. Which is most fortunate, as it simply would not do to have a review on National Dinosaur Day that did not include a dinosaur!”

“Iguanodon? Again, seriously?”

“Yes, Beth, that is indeed the official designation. And I will again concur that it bears only passing resemblance at best to the real animal.”

“I mean, just look at that goofy head, Doc! Looks more like a hippo’s than an Iguanodon’s.”

“Indeed, that particular head piece has also been used to represent Velociraptor, Pteranodon, Ankylosaurus, and Brachiosaurus among others. Repurposing pieces is part and parcel of LEGO, after all.”

“And with that extra long neck, it could pass off better as a Plateosaurus, dontcha think, Doc?”

“Whether intentionally or not, my dear Beth, you have just pointed out one of this toy’s strengths. For you see, its generic appearance means that one can imagine it as any number of prehistoric species. Another strength is that it is the most poseable of all the builds in this kit. The head rotates, the neck rotates, raises, and lowers, the arms rotate, the torso can raise at the hips, and the tail retains the same articulation as always. And unlike the previous build, this Iguanodon can stand perfectly well.”

“Yeah, I guess those are all fair points, Doc. This is a toy aimed at kids, after all, not grownups typing away late at night in their basement dens surrounded by packed display cases.”

“How very meta of you, Beth. Well, I do believe that wraps things up here.”

“Hold on a sec, Doc! This isn’t an official build, but we’ve got all the pieces we need to make an Elasmosaurus!”

“My word, how very ingenious of you, Beth! And not only is it quite poseable, but there can be no mistaking it for anything other than a member of Elasmosauridae. One could just as easily interpret it as Albertonectes, Hydrotherosaurus, Terminonatator, or Thalassomedon if they so desire, but for the purpose of this review, I think calling it Elasmosaurus is perfectly fine.”

“Glad you approve, Doc. And now I reckon we really are done. You wanna wrap it up this time?”

“With pleasure, my dear Beth. While this set may seem crude compared to contemporary LEGO dinosaurs, and while some of the builds do indeed seem . . . questionable at best with regard to accuracy, it nevertheless remains quite an innovative and enjoyable product. All of the builds are easy to complete and fun for children and adults to play with, and the colour scheme is rather attractive as well! This, along with the other sets in the LEGO Dinosaurs series, has been out of production for more than 20 years, so one must scour the Internet if they wish to acquire one. Best of luck in that pursuit. And best wishes to all of you, fellow dinosaur lovers.”

“Guess we’ll back here again come Xmas, Doc?”

“Indeed we shall, Beth, and what a project we have in store for that date!“

“Hooo boy. Later, folks! Giddyap, boy!”